Category: Discoveries
Romney's Miss Vernon coming up at Millon
April 17 2026
Picture: Millon
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News has arrived that the French auction house Millon will be offering a remerged painting by George Romney on 29th May 2026. The portrait of Carolina Maria Vernon, the sister-in-law to George, 2nd Earl of Warwick, was only known from a B&W image until its recent re-emergence with the descendants of the family of Franz Frantsevich Uteman (1868-1925) of St Petersburg. The picture will be offered carrying an estimate of €150,000 - €200,000.
Emma Soyer acquired by NGV Melbourne
April 16 2026
Picture: NGV Melbourne
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News has arrived via the website of the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne that they have acquired Emma Soyer's (c.1809-1842) A girl with a basket of tulips, lilacs and other flowers, on a balcony before a landscape. The picture was acquired with funds from the Eva Mandel Bequest and Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family, and compliments their other recently acquired Soyer, called The Escape, which appeared at a Christie's sale in 2023.
As it happens, Soyer's Flower Girl was initially spotted by my friend Dominic Sanchez Cabello and myself a few years ago in the collection of Melford Hall in Suffolk (which is partly owned by the National Trust and still inhabited by its historic family). The owners didn't know of its significance and shortly afterwards the picture appeared hanging in the Christie's Private Sales galleries who presumably made the sale to the Australian gallery. Congratulations to all involved, it is a stunning addition to Soyer's growing oeuvre (of which there is more to be said in due course).
Update - Here's a short blog from Dominic on the picture.
Eleonora Susette (?) Reidentified by AGO Toronto
March 26 2026
Picture: news.artnet.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Regular readers of AHN will remember an appeal by the AGO in Toronto back in 2020 regarding the identity of a newly acquired portrait from a Sotheby's sale in 2019 (right). It appears that researchers from outside and within the museum may have cracked it. The rediscovery of a companion portrait (left), and a firm attribution through comparisons of signatures to the artist Jeremias Schultz, placed the portraits in Amsterdam in the 1770s.
According to the article above the breakthrough came with emails from two family history researchers:
Their direct ancestor, Beata Louise Schultz, was the painter’s first cousin who had moved to the Dutch colony of Berbice (modern-day Guyana) in 1768 after her husband was appointed governor. Archives showed that after Beata’s husband died in 1773, she decided to return to Amsterdam and wrote a letter to the Dutch government asking permission to bring two enslaved people who worked in her home. Their names were Michiel and Eleonora Susette, who was born in 1756 and was forced to work alongside her mother, Lucia Afiba.
Upon returning to Amsterdam, Beata commissioned her cousin to paint portraits of her son and daughter as well as of Eleonora Susette and Michiel [their last names are not known]. It was most likely intended as a keepsake of the pair, the museum noted. Eight months later, they were sent back across the Atlantic Ocean to Berbice.
Great sleuthing indeed!
Rediscovered Constable Sketch up in Dallas
March 16 2026
Picture: Heritage Auctions
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Texas that a study by John Constable has resurfaced whilst being deaccessioned by the Jefferson Historical Society and Museum. The society had been gifted the work in the 1960s and had long thought the painting to be a copy of the artist's The Cornfield which is in The National Gallery in London. The painting has been authenticated by Anne Lyles and Sarah Cove and will be sold by Heritage Auctions in Dallas 5th June 2026 (no estimate has been provided, as of yet).
Emma Soyer in Burnley
March 9 2026
Picture: Towneley Hall Museum & Art Gallery
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The Towneley Hall Museum & Art Gallery in Burnley shared some news yesterday which I've been looking forward to revealing for some time. The Museum is now the owner of a very fine reidentified work by Emma Soyer (c. 1809-1842), which the town purchased in 1951 as a work by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (an attribution which had been more recently dismissed). It was spotted by my friend Dominic Sanchez-Cabello and myself last year, as part of efforts to find more of her missing pictures. Here's a short blog from Dominic which provides a little more information on the work.
Michelange-eerrrr-no...rediscovered?
March 6 2026
Picture: lesoir.be
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Michelangelo rediscoveries are coming in thick and fast these days. Social media has been awash with news from Belgium that a Michelangelo, which is clearly not a Michelangelo, has been 'rediscovered' in the country. The work was purchased by a collector in an Italian auction who has since discovered 'monogram' potentially by the artist. The attribution was purportedly revealed to the press by Michel Draguet, former director and CEO of The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.
Bust Reattributed to Michelangelo by Archival Researcher
March 5 2026
Video: TG2000
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from Italy that a bust of Christ the Saviour, kept in the Basilica of Sant’Agnese in Rome, has been reattributed by independent researcher Valentina Salerno to Michelangelo. Although considered the work of the master in the early nineteenth century, the attribution had fallen out of favour in subsequent centuries. Salerno's work has focused on archival materials relating to what happened to the artist's works after his death, and how the bust may have ended up in the Basilica (we will await more precise details).
Rijksmuseum reveal Rediscovered Rembrandt
March 3 2026
Picture: Rijksmuseum
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Researchers at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam have revealed a rediscovered painting by Rembrandt which was brought in from a member of the public for further investigations. The work, Vision of Zacharias in the Temple, had been included in an exhibition as Rembrandt in-full back in 1898 but by 1960 had been demoted in publications. Click on the link above to read the technical analysis which was undertaken to help prove this painting to be an early work by the master.
The painting will be on public display in the museum from 4th March (tomorrow) onwards.
Michelangelo's Foot realises $23.1m Hammer
February 5 2026
Picture: Christie's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The aforementioned study of a foot by Michelangelo at Christie's New York soared past its $2m - $3m estimate this afternoon to realise a total of $23.1m (hammer), which is $27.2m including commission. An impressive work of art, and a now staggering price to go along with it, considering its size.
Rediscovered Guido Reni Revealed Today
January 30 2026
Picture: C2RMF
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The aforementioned rediscovered and restored Guido Reni of Atalanta and Hippomenes will be unveiled to the public today at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Libourne. It seems that an official photograph of the painting after restoration is yet to emerge. More news as and when it arrives.
Rediscovered Titian at the Château de Chantilly in March
January 26 2026
Picture: Château de Chantilly
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Readers may remember news of a rediscovered Titian unveiled by the Andreas Pittas Art Characterization Laboratories in Cyprus back in 2025. The Château de Chantilly will be exhibiting the painting, alongside the scientific findings relating to the work and another version in the collection of the Château, from 7th March until 14th June 2026.
Raeburn's lost portrait of Robert Burns rediscovered
January 22 2026
Video: Blackie House Museum and Library
Posted by Bendor Grosvenor
Here's some news I've been looking forward to bringing you for a while: a lost portrait of the Scottish poet Robert Burns by Sir Henry Raeburn has been rediscovered, and went on display today at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh. It was commissioned by Burns' publishers in 1803, but had been missing for about 200 years. The painting surfaced at auction last year in London, and was acquired by the Blackie House Museum and Library (where I'm a Visiting Fellow) and its director, Dr William Zachs. The video above has the full story, and was made by Ishbel Grosvenor. You can read more about the painting and its context here on the National Galleries of Scotland website.
Rediscovered Hans Baldung Grien Drawing at Auction
January 19 2026
Picture: Drouot
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News from France that Beaussant Lefèvre & Associés, in collaboration with the Bayser firm, will be offering a newly rediscovered drawing by Hans Baldung Grien on 23rd March 2026. The work will be offered carrying an estimate of €1.5m - €3m.
Winter in Art in Trento
January 15 2026
Video: Girovagando in Trentino
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Buonconsiglio Castle in Trento, Italy, opened an exhibition dedicated to Winter in Art at the end of last year. The show appears to feature a great deal of Old Masters and will run until 15th March 2026.
Missing Nicolás Francés panel rediscovered with Google Lens Search
January 15 2026
Picture: finestresullarte.info
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
News has arrived that a missing panel, which once formed part of a set of four by Nicolás Francés (active 1424 - 1468), has been rediscovered in an American museum with the aid of a Google Lens search. The panel, which had been displayed in the Church of San Miguel de Villalpando in Spain but had been missing since 1957, was tracked down by ZamorArte Foundation in Zamora. The discovery was aided by old photographic negatives and research into the dealers who handled the picture during the later part of the 20th century. It is hoped that the set might be reunited for some future exhibition in Spain. Click on the link to read the full story.
Update - A comment from a reader:
I have to say that I was more than a little amused by the very breathless article in Finestre sull-Arte about the "rediscovery" of a Nicolás Francés panel in Springfield, Massachusetts.
While it is terrific news that the Zamorarte Foundation now knows where the panel is located, the painting was hardly lost. It is correctly identified in Springfield's galleries, where it's almost always on view, and it has been published, again correctly, in that museum's catalogues several times since they acquired it in 1964.
In fairness, the Springfield collection is less well known than those in, say, Hartford or Worcester, which are nearby, but the d'Amour / MFA is quite a good museum and has done a decent job of making the collection known over the decades. That said, their collections database is still pretty limited, so that plays a role.
Attributed to Rubens Head with Second Face
January 14 2026
Picture: artnet.com
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Artnet.com have published a story relating to a head study of an Old Man attributed to Rubens which is being unveiled at the BRAFA fair in Brussels by dealer Klaas Muller. Acquired at auction a few years ago for €100,000, the head study (which relates to a finished Rubens in the Prado and is often repeated by other hands) curiously features another face which was painted over during the process of its creation. Click on the link to read the full story.
Rediscovered José I Portrait acquired by University of Coimbra
December 30 2025
Picture: Sotheby's
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
A reader has kindly been in touch with news from November regarding the following portrait of the young José I (King of Portugal from 1750 to 1777) by Domenico Duprà which was acquired by University of Coimbra in 2023. The picture, which was sold in the Collection Hubert Guerrand-Hermès sale at Sotheby's Paris in 2023 as a 'Portrait of a Young Man', was spotted by Diogo Lemos, a PhD student in Art History at the University. The painting realised €8,890 (inc. commission) over its €2k - €3k estimate. Click on the link above to read more.
Finding Catherine Read
December 23 2025
Picture: Rhodes Trust via ArtUK (where misattributed)
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
I hope readers don't mind a short plug for a blog I've written for the website ArtHerStory.net entitled Finding Catherine Read. The piece explains what it is like to go out and find misattributed paintings by female artists. Catherine Read (1720-1778) is widely known as a portraitist in pastel (indeed Neil Jeffares has over 20 pages of them here accessible for free on Pastellists.com), however, her recognised oil paintings are fewer in number.
This summer I began to make a list of misattributed oils on canvas that I have spotted in public collections, museums, private collections and on the art market. The blog features many pictures that are published and given to Read for the first time (perhaps in a long time, at least).
Earliest Tattoo in Western European Painting?
December 10 2025
Picture: Amsterdam Museum via CODART
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
Interesting news from CODART at the end of last month that the condition report of a painting attributed to Wallerant Vaillant in the Amsterdam Museum may have led to the discovery of 'the earliest known depiction of a tattoo in Western European painting'.
According to the article:
During an inspection of a seventeenth-century painting in the Amsterdam Museum collection, a tattoo was discovered on the wrist of a prominent Amsterdam merchant. The painting, a 1674 portrait of the College of the Chief Commissioners of the Wharves attributed to Wallerant Vaillant (1623–1677), was undergoing a routine condition check when restorer Liesbeth Abraham noticed the mark on the inside of one subject’s wrist.
Click on the link above to read the full story.
Rediscovered Rubens reaches €2.9m
December 2 2025
Video: ABS CBN News
Posted by Adam Busiakiewicz:
The aforementioned rediscovered Rubens Crucifixion realised €2,940,799 (inc. commission) over its €1m - €2m estimate at Osenat in Versailles yesterday.
